A symbiosis of seating forms in an Alpine garden

High up on Bürgenstock mountain, the rustic landscape comes face to face with modern architecture, history encounters the 21st century and natural forms meet geometric shapes.

High up on Bürgenstock mountain, the rustic landscape comes face to face with modern architecture, history encounters the 21st century and natural forms meet geometric shapes. Products from the Streetlife Rough&Ready and Solid Series highlight these wonderful contrasts while providing a visually attractive coherence.

Nestled in the Alps, the Bürgenstock Resort (874 metres above sea level) perches on a ridge overlooking Lake Lucerne in the Swiss canton of Nidwalden. The mountain ridge itself offers hikers incomparable views. Surrounded by the Alps and with the lake and the city of Lucerne at their feet, tourists visit the area to enjoy breathtaking panoramas, the rejuvenating spas and the luxurious hotels, restaurants and shops.

Bürgenstock Resort is an icon of the Swiss hotel industry. The Palace Hotel opened in 1873 followed shortly by a second hotel and a cableway that connected the village with the valley. In the 1960s, Bürgenstock became a meeting place for the rich and famous. Hollywood stars such as Audrey Hepburn and Sophia Loren resided here along with tsars and grand dukes. In 2008, it was decided to renovate and expand the resort as part of a major phased modernisation project. The work was completed in 2017 with the opening of the new Waldhotel.

Dové Plan AG was commissioned with the landscape planning of the surrounding Alpine garden. The firm designed a green oasis traversed by an organic path that widens in several places. These open spaces serve as a retreat, offering seating and spectacular views of the Alpine panorama.

The environment is characterised by striking but pleasant dualities. For instance, the rustic garden and the rural ambience contrast with the modern, luxurious architecture. This contrast is also reflected in the Streetlife street furniture. Products from the Rough&Ready and Solid Series were chosen to highlight the surrounding dualism. The robust character of the Rough&Ready beams (7x15 cm) is juxtaposed with the contemporary, refined appearance of the Solid slats (7x7 cm). Due to the coherence between the different product series in the Streetlife collection, a uniform appearance nevertheless emerges.

The organic shapes of the path are mirrored by the meandering Rough&Ready Curve Benches. The flexible Streetlife system allowed the landscape architects to determine the radius and length of the benches and the vertical slats of the Rough&Ready Royal Backrests follow the curves seamlessly.

The three Solid Serif Chaise Longues with their wave-shaped surfaces are in complete harmony with the natural character of the garden, while the slender slat format underlines the elegance of modern architecture. The distance between the individual slats is kept small (8 mm), resulting in an almost closed seat. Thanks to this homogeneous surface and the curved shape, the Solid Serif Chaise Longues are extremely comfortable and act as an open invitation to relax and sunbathe.

The Solid Skirt Benches also have a modern look. One circular and two elongated benches were selected. The vertical slats of the ‘Skirt’ connect to the horizontal slats of the seat. Streetlife always avoids conventional wood joints and has developed a distinct, elegant corner solution. A slender steel plate simultaneously joins the two slats while emphasising the junction.

Two geometric Podium Isles round off the project. These were made to measure at the request of the landscape architects. The trapezoidal and polygonal contours are precisely adapted to the surroundings and thus blend perfectly into the garden. Their elegance is reminiscent of the architecture.

Unique and coherent, Streetlife's collection not only serves to highlight Bürgenstock's compelling contrasts but helps to create a harmonious and highly attractive environment.